Here are what the editors at HealthDay consider to be the most important developments in Neurology for January 2013. This roundup includes the latest research news from journal articles, as well as the FDA approvals and regulatory changes that are the most likely to affect clinical practice.
Adiposity, Hyperglycemia Tied to Cognitive Performance
THURSDAY, Jan. 31 (HealthDay News) -- Among healthy middle-aged adults, adiposity and hyperglycemia correlate with poor cognitive performance, according to a study published online Dec. 28 in Diabetes Care.
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Updated Guidelines Issued for Care of Acute Ischemic Stroke
THURSDAY, Jan. 31 (HealthDay News) -- For patients with acute ischemic stroke, the keys to limiting associated morbidity and mortality include the recognition of stroke, early diagnosis and treatment, and hospital care, according to updated guidelines published online Jan. 31 in Stroke.
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Brain Activity Predicts Response to Scopolamine
THURSDAY, Jan. 31 (HealthDay News) -- The neural response in the visual cortex while processing emotional information can predict which patients with major depressive disorder will respond to scopolamine, according to a study published online Jan. 30 in JAMA Psychiatry.
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Diet High in Carotenoids Linked to Lower Risk of ALS
THURSDAY, Jan. 31 (HealthDay News) -- Although vitamin C intake has no effect, greater total major carotenoid intake is inversely associated with the risk of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), according to research published online Jan. 29 in the Annals of Neurology.
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Multiple Sclerosis Risk Up for Overweight, Obese Girls
THURSDAY, Jan. 31 (HealthDay News) -- Childhood obesity is associated with an increased risk of multiple sclerosis (MS) or clinically isolated syndrome (CIS) in adolescent girls, according to research published online Jan. 30 in Neurology.
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Some Dietary Interventions Improve ADHD Symptoms
WEDNESDAY, Jan. 30 (HealthDay News) -- Under blinded conditions, non-pharmacological treatments for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) show limited evidence of symptom improvement, according to a meta-analysis published online Jan. 30 in the American Journal of Psychiatry.
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Physicians Commonly Report Unsafe Hospital Workloads
TUESDAY, Jan. 29 (HealthDay News) -- Physicians say they often face unsafe hospital workloads, according to a study published online Jan. 28 in JAMA Internal Medicine.
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Brain Scans Show Doctors Empathize With Patients
TUESDAY, Jan. 29 (HealthDay News) -- Physicians who empathize with a patient in pain and feel relief when the patient receives effective treatment show activity in brain regions associated with pain relief and reward, according to a study published online Jan. 29 in Molecular Psychiatry.
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Appropriate Use Criteria Established for Amyloid PET
TUESDAY, Jan. 29 (HealthDay News) -- Experts have agreed upon appropriate use criteria for positron emission tomography (PET) of brain amyloid β, according to a report published online Jan. 28 in Alzheimer's & Dementia.
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Placebo Often Effective for Treating Headache in Children
TUESDAY, Jan. 29 (HealthDay News) -- Placebo is often effective in treating children with headaches, and innovative strategies are needed to reduce the placebo response rate and prove drug effects in trials, according to two studies published online Jan. 28 in JAMA Pediatrics.
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Marked Geographic Variation in Mental Health Medication Use
FRIDAY, Jan. 25 (HealthDay News) -- There is considerable local and regional variation within the United States in the use of antidepressants, antipsychotics, and stimulants, according to a study published online Jan. 7 in Health & Place.
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Hyperbaric Oxygen Improves Function Long After Stroke
FRIDAY, Jan. 25 (HealthDay News) -- Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) significantly improves neurological function and quality of life in people who had a stroke up to three years earlier, according to a study published online Jan. 15 in PLOS One.
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Psychological Factors Impact Upper-Extremity Disability
THURSDAY, Jan. 24 (HealthDay News) -- Psychological factors, including kinesiophobia and catastrophic thinking, are important predictors of the magnitude of upper-extremity-specific disability, according to a study published in the Jan. 2 issue of The Journal of Bone & Joint Surgery.
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ACPE Survey Finds Skepticism Relating to Online Doc Ratings
THURSDAY, Jan. 24 (HealthDay News) -- Physicians are skeptical of online ratings, and believe that few patients use them, according to a survey published by the American College of Physician Executives (ACPE).
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Physician Education Ups Communication for New Meds
THURSDAY, Jan. 24 (HealthDay News) -- A physician-targeted education session improves physician communication about newly-prescribed medications, according to a study published in the January/February issue of the Annals of Family Medicine.
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Multi-Taskers Often Bad at Multi-Tasking
THURSDAY, Jan. 24 (HealthDay News) -- People who multi-task often lack the ability to do so, while having an inflated sense of their multi-tasking abilities, according to a study published online Jan. 23 in PLOS ONE.
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Exposure to Triggers Causes Migraine With Aura in Only a Few
THURSDAY, Jan. 24 (HealthDay News) -- For patients who suffer from migraine with aura (MA), provocation with natural self-reported trigger factors causes migraine in only a small subgroup, according to a study published online Jan. 23 in Neurology.
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Large Teaching Hospitals Face More Readmission Penalties
WEDNESDAY, Jan. 23 (HealthDay News) -- Large hospitals, teaching hospitals, and safety-net hospitals (SNHs) are more likely than other hospitals to be penalized under the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program (HRRP), according to a research letter published in the Jan. 23/30 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.
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Fetal Exposure to Valproate Linked to Lower IQ at Age 6
WEDNESDAY, Jan. 23 (HealthDay News) -- Fetal exposure to valproate is associated with lower IQ compared with exposure to other antiepileptic drugs, according to a study published online Jan. 23 in The Lancet Neurology.
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Care Transition Initiative Decreases Rehospitalizations
WEDNESDAY, Jan. 23 (HealthDay News) -- Communities instituting quality improvement initiatives for care transitions see significant declines in the rate of 30-day rehospitalizations and hospitalizations, according to a study published in the Jan. 23/30 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.
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FDA: First Skin Patch Approved to Treat Migraines
TUESDAY, Jan. 22 (HealthDay News) -- Zecuity, a sumatriptan iontophoretic single-use, battery-powered transdermal system, has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for acute treatment of migraine with or without aura in adults.
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Hearing Loss Linked to Cognitive Impairment in Elderly
MONDAY, Jan. 21 (HealthDay News) -- For older adults, hearing loss is independently associated with incident cognitive impairment; and about 11 percent of those aged 80 or older have dual sensory impairment (DSI), according to two studies published online Jan. 21 in JAMA Internal Medicine.
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Accelerated Cognitive Decline Seen With T2DM in Middle Age
MONDAY, Jan. 21 (HealthDay News) -- Middle-aged patients with type 2 diabetes show accelerated cognitive decline in information processing speed and executive function, according to a study published online Dec. 28 in Diabetes Care.
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Efforts Failed to Up Primary Care, Rural Resident Training
FRIDAY, Jan. 18 (HealthDay News) -- The 2005 redistribution of graduate medical education (GME) funds did little to train more residents in primary care and in rural areas, according to a study published in the January issue of Health Affairs.
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Tamoxifen Shows Pre-Clinical Potential in Muscular Dystrophy
THURSDAY, Jan. 17 (HealthDay News) -- The breast cancer drug tamoxifen improves muscle strength and function in a mouse model of Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), according to a study published online Jan. 15 in The American Journal of Pathology.
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Even Brief Interruptions Dramatically Increase Errors
WEDNESDAY, Jan. 16 (HealthDay News) -- Even momentary interruptions of two to four seconds can significantly affect a person's ability to accurately complete a task requiring considerable thought, according to research published online Jan. 7 in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: General.
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Family Docs Are Early Adopters of Electronic Health Records
WEDNESDAY, Jan. 16 (HealthDay News) -- Family practice physicians are adopting electronic health record (EHR) systems at a fast pace, with 68 percent using an EHR system by 2011, and 80 percent expected to be users by 2013, according to research published in the January/February issue of the Annals of Family Medicine.
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Certain Online Behaviors of Docs Warrant Investigation
MONDAY, Jan. 14 (HealthDay News) -- There is high consensus among state medical boards regarding the likelihood of probable investigations for certain online behaviors, according to a study published in the Jan. 15 issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine.
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Top Five Issues for Docs and Patients Identified for 2013
MONDAY, Jan. 14 (HealthDay News) -- The top five issues that will impact physicians and patients in 2013 have been identified, according to a report published Dec. 10 by The Physicians Foundation.
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Psychiatric Risk Genes Linked to Brain Structure at Birth
FRIDAY, Jan. 11 (HealthDay News) -- Variants of several genes linked to psychiatric disorders are associated with changes in brain structure observable at birth, according to a study published online Jan. 2 in Cerebral Cortex.
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National U.S. Health Care Spending Relatively Stable
FRIDAY, Jan. 11 (HealthDay News) -- The growth in national U.S. health care spending was relatively stable in 2011, but growth in personal health care spending accelerated, according to a study published in the January issue of Health Affairs.
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Etanercept Seems Beneficial in Partial Spinal Cord Injury
THURSDAY, Jan. 10 (HealthDay News) -- Treatment of rabbits with a partial spinal cord injury (SCI) with the intramuscularly-administered tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) inhibitor etanercept is associated with improved clinical and electrophysiological recovery processes, according to research published in the December issue of the European Spine Journal.
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High Unawareness of Distal Sensorimotor Polyneuropathy
THURSDAY, Jan. 10 (HealthDay News) -- A high percentage of older adults with diabetes and prediabetes are unaware of having clinical distal sensorimotor polyneuropathy (DSPN), according to a study published online Dec. 28 in Diabetes Care.
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SPIRIT 2013 Clinical Trial Protocol Guidelines Issued
THURSDAY, Jan. 10 (HealthDay News) -- A panel of experts, including trial investigators, trial coordinators, and representatives from ethics and regulatory agencies, has developed the Standard Protocol Items: Recommendations for Interventional Trials (SPIRIT) 2013 guidelines for the minimum content of a clinical trial, according to a statement published online Jan. 8 in the Annals of Internal Medicine.
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Multiple Stressors Contribute to Readmission Within 30 Days
WEDNESDAY, Jan. 9 (HealthDay News) -- Nearly one-fifth of Medicare patients discharged from the hospital are readmitted within 30 days, which seems to arise from a combination of factors contributing to patient vulnerability, according to research published in the Jan. 9 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.
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Second Impact Syndrome Endangers Young Athletes
TUESDAY, Jan. 8 (HealthDay News) -- Neuroimaging scans performed after first and second head injuries in a high school football player may help physicians better understand a rare and devastating traumatic brain injury, known as second impact syndrome (SIS), that results from premature return to play, according to a case report published online Jan. 1 in the Journal of Neurosurgery: Pediatrics.
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Health Care Use Dropped Among All During Recession
TUESDAY, Jan. 8 (HealthDay News) -- Health care use declined significantly among all races and ethnicities during the recession from 2007 to 2009, with the only ethnic disparity being fewer physician visits by Hispanics compared with whites, according to a study published online Jan. 7 in JAMA Internal Medicine.
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Impaired Cognition, Depression Common in Aging NFL Players
TUESDAY, Jan. 8 (HealthDay News) -- Retired professional football players may be more likely to have cognitive impairments or depression, which are associated with white matter abnormalities and changes in cerebral blood flow, according to a study published online Jan. 7 in JAMA Neurology.
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Data Suggest Depression Doesn't Precede Impaired Cognition
MONDAY, Jan. 7 (HealthDay News) -- Among older adults, depression correlates with prevalent mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and progression to dementia, but not with incident MCI, according to a study published online Dec. 31 in JAMA Neurology.
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Shared Savings May Promote Care Coordination Entity Use
MONDAY, Jan. 7 (HealthDay News) -- Use of shared savings could encourage individuals who are dually eligible for Medicare and Medicaid to enroll in state-designed care coordination entities (CCEs), according to a perspective piece published online Jan. 2 in the New England Journal of Medicine.
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Neural Responses Measured As Children Watch 'Sesame Street'
FRIDAY, Jan. 4 (HealthDay News) -- The responses of children's brains while they watch the educational television show "Sesame Street" can predict their verbal and mathematical abilities, according to a study published online Jan. 3 in PLOS Biology.
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Association Between Health Care Cost, Quality Inconsistent
THURSDAY, Jan. 3 (HealthDay News) -- The direction of the association between health care cost and quality is unclear, with inconsistent evidence indicating positive, negative, mixed, and indeterminate associations, according to a review published in the Jan. 1 issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine.
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Prior Brain Injury Linked to Re-Injury Later in Life
THURSDAY, Jan. 3 (HealthDay News) -- Older adults with a history of traumatic brain injury (TBI) with loss of consciousness (LOC) have a 2.5- to almost four-fold higher risk of subsequent re-injury later in life, according to research published online Nov. 21 in the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry.
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House Joins Senate to Avert Medicare Cuts
WEDNESDAY, Jan. 2 (HealthDay News) -- The House of Representatives settled on an 11th-hour agreement late Tuesday night that has averted the widespread tax increases and spending cuts that would have gone into effect January 1. This agreement occurred 21 hours after the U.S. Senate did its part to steer the country clear of the "fiscal cliff."
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Surgery Consultation Common After MRI of the Spine
WEDNESDAY, Jan. 2 (HealthDay News) -- Almost half of patients whose primary care physicians recommend a lumbosacral or cervical spine magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan go on to receive a surgical consultation, but few end up undergoing spinal surgery, according to research published in the Jan. 1 issue of Spine.
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